Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, make “dragon eyes” with your thumbs and index fingers and look through them. Close your eyes and practice “reverse breathing” by pulling in the lower abdomen as you inhale and expanding it as you exhale, keeping the chest relaxed.

Focus your awareness on the hair of your head (or on the follicles of the scalp if you are bald). Lightly touch your scalp and hair, and focus until you can feel the energy coming in through your hair as you inhale.

Dragon eyes

Touching and being aware of the hair

Rise up onto toes.

3. Become aware of your heart and tongue. As you inhale, feel each hair as an antenna, drawing Universal Chi toward you. As you exhale, feel the energy filtering through your hair, which transforms it from raw Universal Chi into energy that is useful for the organs and the body. Feel as if your hair is breathing.

4. Focus on the hair in your armpits (or the follicles, if you shave your armpits) and feel the connection between the spleen and the mouth. Inhale and gently pull your eyes in and your anus and perineum upward. At the same time, draw energy in through the armpit hair. As you exhale, relax your eyes and anus. Continue breathing through the armpit hair for about 30 seconds, then direct the energy from your armpits up your shoulders and into your mouth.

5. Draw energy into your mouth by sucking gently on your tongue and drawing in your cheeks as you move your lower jaw slowly forward and backward. Draw in nature and Universal Chi.

6. Place your hands in the “dragon-eyes” position from step 1, then inhale and rise up onto your toes as you gently pull the middle part of the anus up toward your head.

7. Draw all your energy into your mouth to join the energy from your head hair and armpit hair. Inhale and suck your eyes into your sockets, draw your tongue toward your throat, draw the ears in toward the ear canals, draw all your senses into the mouth, and suck in your cheeks. Hold your breath and pull in tighter.

Draw all your energy into your mouth.

8. Exhale, lower your heels to the ground, and relax. Move your tongue around 6–9 times and mix all the energies of the universe with your saliva, but do not swallow it.

9. Repeat steps 2–8 two more times, until you have a mouth full of energized saliva.

10. When you are ready, press all of your fingers around the pinkies, inhale, pull up the middle part of the anus, and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. On the next inhalation, pull the left and right sides of the anus up toward the left and right kidneys, feeling the kidneys pushing up the tongue.

Squeeze the pinkies and swallow.

11. Lock your neck, press your tongue hard against your palate, and squeeze your fingers against your pinkies. Squeeze all the muscles of your body, then swallow all the saliva in one firm gulp, delivering the elixir straight to your stomach. Smile to your organs and feel the chi/ saliva/elixir spreading to them.

12. Rest and cover your navel, feeling it grow warm. Guide the chi down the front of your legs to the toes and soles as you sink your body down. Scoop up the Earth Chi with your arms, and then pour it into your crown.

13. Collect energy at your navel.

Looking Back at the Moon

(Pages 78–80)

Stand with your feet together and hands loosely curled. Place the back of your right hand in front of your forehead and the left hand at waist level, palm toward your body.

3. Feel your hair like antennae extended into space. Gather energy through your head hair and armpit hair while maintaining awareness of your heart and tongue. Then gather energy through the hairs on your arms.

6. Feel the connection between the pubic hair, lungs, and nose. Breathe through your pubic hair for at least a minute, drawing energy in from the universe. (You may notice some arousal doing this.) Feel the energy from your head hair, armpit hair, arm hair, and pubic hair mixing into your saliva.

Next, inhale through your facial hair and keep the energy in your mouth when you exhale. Draw in your tongue and cheeks for 30 seconds.

Fill your mouth with saliva by swirling your tongue between your front teeth and the backs of your lips—9 times in each direction. Then swirl your tongue behind your front teeth, also 9 times in each direction.

Feel the energy from your scalp hair, arm and armpit hair, pubic hair, and facial hair mixing into your saliva. Move your lower jaw as if you were “chewing” the saliva.

Breathe through all of your body hair follicles, drawing in universal energy from the six directions around you. Feel the connection between your lungs and nose.

Breathe universal energy in through your hair follicles.

8. Inhale, rise onto your toes, and pull up the middle part of your anus toward your head. Draw in the hair energy by sucking in your cheeks and tongue, pulling your ears toward the ear canals and your eyes toward their sockets. Hold your breath and pull in more tightly, using suction to draw all the energy into your mouth.

9. Exhale and lower your feet to the ground. Inhale Universal Chi, and mix it with the hair energy in your saliva. Repeat steps 1–9 three times, gathering more and more energy into your saliva.

11. Swallow hard down into the abdomen as you thrust your left hand down toward the earth. Feel the saliva turn into chi in your navel.

12. Repeat steps 1–11 with hands reversed, then repeat steps 1–11 again with both hands raised.

Giant Raises the Tower

Iron Bridge Swallow

(Pages 90–92)

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your ankles locked. Rub your palms together then place them behind your kidneys with the thumbs and index fingers forming a circle on each hand. (Keep the other fingers straight.)

Tuck your chin in and bend backward from your lower vertebrae. Do not tip your head backward.

3. Gather energy from all of your body's hair and senses; draw it into your mouth and saliva as in the previous exercises. Draw in your sense organs, contract your perineum and genitals, and feel the energy collecting in your hair.

4. Inhale and beat the saliva with your tongue. Exhale and relax your face, but do not swallow the saliva. Repeat steps 1–4 two more times.

5. Lightly straighten your neck and press all of your fingers into the pinkies as you swallow hard. Then rest and gently brush the energy down your chest.

All at the same time, do the following: Rub your palms briskly together, waggle your head and your “tail” (sacrum and pelvis) in opposite directions, draw the sense organs into your head, and beat the saliva in your mouth. Continue these movements for 2 minutes.

Begin with your right foot one step behind your left and your arms “hugging” the front of your body: place your right hand in front of your left shoulder and your left hand above your right hip.

Swing your right leg out in front of you, shifting your weight forward onto your left leg. At the same time, arch your back by pressing your waist and T11 forward, and fling your arms open, straightening your elbows and expanding your chest. Your left palm should be open toward the sky, your right palm facing the earth. Swing your head to the right, eyes following the downturned palm.

Re-cross your arms in front of your body, this time placing your left hand in front of the right shoulder and the right hand above the left hip. Tuck your chin in.

Swing your left leg forward, repeating all the motions in step 2 on the opposite side.

Repeat each side 50 times.

Pull the Silk and Swing the Leg

Gathering the Golden Earth Pill

(Pages 98–103)

On a piece of 8½ x 11-inch paper, draw two 6-inch circles intersecting each other. Draw a dot in the center of the intersecting region.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and place the drawing between your feet. Squat down, letting your buttocks almost touch the ground.

Place your hands on your hips and practice rotating your left leg back and forth from the hip—left to right and right to left. Do the same with your right leg, then with both legs together.

Draw two intersecting circles.

Rotate each hip, pushing the arms to trace two circles.

Scoop up the earth pill.

4. Draw a dot in the center of each palm, then drop your hands down in front of you, locking your elbows and resting them against the insides of your knees.

5. Move your right hip so that your leg pushes your arm: your arm will swing and your palm will trace the right-hand circle in a counter-clockwise motion. Do not use the muscles of your hand or arm to trace the circle; just let the hip push your arm around.

6. Do the same with your left hip, pushing your left arm to trace the left-hand circle. Focus your eyes on the dot in the center of the intersecting circles.

7. Now move both hips simultaneously, keeping your circling palms about 1 inch from the paper. At the overlapping point where the hands cross, a pearl of energy is created—this is the “earth pill.”

8. Use your mind, eyes, and palms to gather the earth force 3 times. Notice the earth pill forming. At the same time, gather the energy of the senses and organs into your head and saliva.

9. Scoop the earth pill up in your hands as you stand up. Inhale, then suck the earth pill from your hands deep into your mouth. Pull up you anus and mix the earth pill with your saliva.

10. Press your tongue against your palate and beat the saliva, then swallow it down, bringing your cupped palms to face your chest. Feel the saliva and the earth pill rush down to your stomach and lower tan tien as you sweep your hands down your chest.

Punch straight ahead with your right fist, rotating the wrist so the fingers point downward as you punch. At the same time, lower your right knee and shift your weight to the right leg.

As a variation, twist your punching arm clockwise as far as you can.

At the end of the punch, form a fierce claw with your right hand, spreading and tensing the fingers. Pretend to claw at the eyes of an imaginary assailant, then grasp and twist his nose and mouth clock-wise. Grab the beard or chin of your imaginary opponent and pull him toward you to upset his balance. At the same time, shift most of your weight back onto your left leg.

Rotate your wrist so the claw is facing upward, then retract it, closing your hand back into a fist and bringing it back to your waist.

Tiger Out of the Cage

6. Repeat steps 2–5 on the left side, twisting your left arm counterclockwise as you punch.

7. Practice 108 times on each side.

Iron Buffalo Plows the Land

(Pages 107–9)

Stand with your feet 6 inches apart and “walk” your hands forward on the floor. Form a triangle by keeping your knees and elbows straight and your hips high. Begin by supporting your weight on your hands; with practice you will be able to support your weight with your fingertips.

Gather energy in your mouth and mix it with your saliva. As you pre-pare to swallow, bend your arms and scoop your nose forward, about an inch off the ground.

As you swallow, swing your hips forward and arch your back. As your head rises up, swallow the saliva down.

Repeat this exercise 3 times the first month, 6 times the second month, 9 times the third month, and 12 times the fourth month.

When you feel light enough to fly, sink your power into your lower tan tien and toes. Bending your knees and hips only slightly, jump straight upward, thrusting your arms straight up at the same time.

Brush congested chi down your chest with your hands. Repeat the jump 9–18 times, then walk around for a few minutes. Never eat, drink, or sit down immediately after jumping.

Fair Lady Jumps

Ending Exercise

Whether you have practiced one or more of the Elixir Chi Kung practices, always complete your session with this exercise.

Stand with your feet close together and raise your palms to the heavens. Feel chi from the universe flowing into your hollow bones and compressing there.

With very big and long hands, scoop up chi from the universe and pour it over your crown. Feel electricity run into your skull and bones. Brush the energy down your body, then feel your legs sink deep into the center of the earth.

Now scoop the Earth Chi from the earth below you. Guide it up the bones of your body.

Scoop chi down from the crown again, moving it into your lower tan tien. Cover your navel with your hands and collect the energy there.